Measures Of Confrontation Naming Research Articles

I remembered the chorm! Word learning abilities of children with and without phonological impairment.

Children with phonological impairment present with pattern-based errors in their speech production. While some children have difficulties with speech perception and/or the establishment of robust underlying phonological representations, the nature of phonological impairment in children is still not well understood. Given that phonological and lexical development are closely linked, one way to better understand the nature of the problem in phonological impairment is to examine word learning abilities in children. To examine word learning and its relationship with speech perception, speech production and vocabulary knowledge in children aged 4-5 years. There were two variables of interest: speech production abilities ranging from phonological impairment to typical speech; and vocabulary abilities ranging from typical to above average ('lexically precocious'). Participants were 49 Australian-English-speaking children aged 48-69 months. Children were each taught four novel non-words (out of a selection of eight) through stories, and word learning was assessed at 1 week post-initial exposure. Word learning was assessed using two measures: confrontation naming and story retell naming. Data were analysed by group using independent-samples t-tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests, and continuously using multiple linear regression. There was no significant difference in word learning ability of children with and without phonological impairment, but regardless of speech group, children with above average vocabulary had significantly better word learning abilities than children with average vocabulary. In multiple linear regression, vocabulary was the only significant predictor of variance in word learning ability. Children with phonological impairment can be lexically precocious and learn new words like their peers without phonological impairment. Contrary to expectations, vocabulary knowledge rather than expressive phonological ability explained variance in measures of word learning. These findings question an assumption that children with phonological impairment have underspecified phonological representations. They also highlight the heterogeneity among children with phonological impairment and the need to better understand the nature of their difficulty learning the phonological system of the ambient language. What is already known on the subject There is limited research examining the word learning abilities of children with phonological impairment. Most previous research focuses on word properties such as phonotactic probability and neighbourhood density. Within the existing literature there are different reports and conclusions regarding the word learning abilities of children with phonological impairment and whether their word learning differs from that of children with typically developing speech. What this study adds to existing knowledge This study found that vocabulary was the strongest predictor of word learning across children with and without phonological impairment. There was no significant difference in word learning ability between children with and without phonological impairment. However, children with lexically precocious vocabulary abilities were significantly better at word learning than children with average vocabulary abilities. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Findings from this study support the importance of assessing and considering measures of word learning-including vocabulary-when working with children with phonological impairment. This study indicates that it is possible to use stories coupled with measures of confrontation naming and story retell to gain deeper insight into children's word learning abilities.

Mild Cognitive Impairment in Retired Professional Football Players With a History of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot Investigation

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a known risk factor for neurodegenerative dementias such as Alzheimer disease (AD); however, the potential risk of mild cases of TBI, such as concussions, remains unclear. To explore whether a small sample of retired professional athletes with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI)-the prodromal stage of AD-and a history of multiple mild TBIs exhibit greater neuropsychological impairment than age-matched nonathletes with MCI and no history of TBI. Ten retired National Football League players diagnosed with MCI and reporting multiple mild TBIs, and 10 nonathletes, also diagnosed with MCI but with no history of TBI, completed a standard neurologic examination and neuropsychological testing. Independent samples t tests were conducted to examine differences in neuropsychological performance between the two groups. The retired athletes with a history of mild TBI obtained generally similar scores to the nonathlete controls on measures of verbal learning and memory, verbal fluency, and processing speed. However, the retired athletes scored lower than the controls on tests of confrontation naming and speeded visual attention. Retired athletes with MCI and a history of mild TBI demonstrated similar neuropsychological profiles as nonathlete controls despite lower scores on measures of confrontation naming and speeded visual attention. These findings suggest that a history of multiple mild TBIs does not significantly alter the overall neuropsychological profile of individuals with MCI; confirmation of this will require longitudinal research with larger sample sizes.

Abstract WP383: Neuropsychological Outcomes Following Pediatric Cerebral Sinovenous Thrombosis

Introduction: Few research studies have investigated neuropsychological domains beyond IQ in pediatric cerebral sinovenous thrombosis (CSVT). Additionally, prior studies have contained small sample sizes making generalization of results difficult. This study investigates a broad set of neuropsychological domains in pediatric CSVT and identifies predictors of poor outcomes. Hypothesis: Children with CSVT were predicted to have worse cognitive outcomes compared to the normative sample. Earlier age at CSVT and the presence of acute symptoms associated with CNS dysfunction (e.g., altered mental status, aphasia, ataxia, seizure, and hemiparesis) were also hypothesized to predict worse long-term outcomes. Methods: 20 children (mean age = 15.6 years) who suffered a CSVT during childhood (range = 3.6 to 18.0 years) participated in this study. Children completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and parents completed several standardized behavioral questionnaires. Testing was completed at least 6 months post-CSVT. Data were analyzed using one-sample t -tests and ANOVA. Results: Children with CSVT had significantly greater problems on measures of mood, behavior, visual-motor integration, and processing speed compared to the normative sample (all p -values < 0.05). There were also trends for children with CSVT to have poorer performance on measures of confrontation naming ( p = 0.051), sentence repetition ( p = 0.064), and metacognition ( p = 0.057). Age at the time of CSVT was a significant predictor, such that older age at CSVT was associated with poorer single word reading and poorer visual-motor integration, but higher adaptive functioning. In these preliminary findings, acute symptoms associated with CNS dysfunction did not significantly predict outcomes. Conclusions: To our knowledge, these findings represent the largest study to date investigating a broad set of neuropsychological domains following pediatric CSVT. This population demonstrated weaknesses in visual-motor integration and processing speed compared to the normative sample. Additionally, these children exhibited more mood and behavior symptoms, supporting the need for careful psychological follow-up in this vulnerable population.

Visual Discrimination Predicts Naming and Semantic Association Accuracy in Alzheimer Disease

Language impairment is a common symptom of Alzheimer disease (AD), and is thought to be related to semantic processing. This study examines the contribution of another process, namely visual perception, on measures of confrontation naming and semantic association abilities in persons with probable AD. Twenty individuals with probable mild-moderate Alzheimer disease and 20 age-matched controls completed a battery of neuropsychologic measures assessing visual perception, naming, and semantic association ability. Visual discrimination tasks that varied in the degree to which they likely accessed stored structural representations were used to gauge whether structural processing deficits could account for deficits in naming and in semantic association in AD. Visual discrimination abilities of nameable objects in AD strongly predicted performance on both picture naming and semantic association ability, but lacked the same predictive value for controls. Although impaired, performance on visual discrimination tests of abstract shapes and novel faces showed no significant relationship with picture naming and semantic association. These results provide additional evidence to support that structural processing deficits exist in AD, and may contribute to object recognition and naming deficits. Our findings suggest that there is a common deficit in discrimination of pictures using nameable objects, picture naming, and semantic association of pictures in AD. Disturbances in structural processing of pictured items may be associated with lexical-semantic impairment in AD, owing to degraded internal storage of structural knowledge.

A syndromal analysis of neuropsychological outcome following coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Background: Studies of neuropsychological outcome following coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) have traditionally dichotomised patients as “impaired” or “unimpaired”. This conceals the potential heterogeneity of deficits due to different...

Reading and Phonological Awareness in Reading-Disabled Adults

Sixty-eight students with reading disabilities (RDs) and 55 non-reading-disabled university undergraduates composed the sample. Students with RDs met either low achievement (LA) or regression-based discrepancy (D) criteria. In addition to IQ and reading decoding measures, all participants received measures of phonological awareness (PA), confrontation naming, and verbal fluency. Consistent with expectations, the D and LA subgroups did not differ from one another, and both performed worse than students without RD on phonological measures. However, only the LA subgroup performed worse on measures of confrontation naming and verbal fluency. Subgroups of readers who had LA without an IQ-achievement discrepancy (LA-no D) and readers who had both LA and a discrepancy (LA + D), performed worse than readers who had a discrepancy but whose reading achievement was above the 16th percentile (D-no LA) on measures of PA, naming, and fluency; this subgroup did not differ from students without RDs. These results question the utility of determining RD in adults solely on the basis of IQ-achievement discrepancy criterion without regard to other linguistic skills or absolute reading level.

Complex Real-World Functioning and Neuropsychological Test Performance in Older Adults

In stepwise regression analyses with Independent Living Scales (ILS) summary and subscale scores as the dependent variables, 8 of 10 psychometric measures from our battery for older adults emerged as important predictors for 69 patients referred for clinical assessment. The Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) score entered first for 6/8 analyses. However, measures of confrontation naming, oral reading, verbal fluency, paragraph recall, visual perception, complex attention, and depression also added explanatory power. Multiple R s ranged from .66 to .88 except for the Social Adjustment subscale, which correlated only with the depression scale.

Relation of cortical language distribution and cognitive function in surgical epilepsy patients.

To investigate the relation between the number and spatial distribution of language sites and specific patient-and epilepsy-related variables. Patients with stimulation-induced reading or naming errors from anterior or inferior temporal cortex (i.e., atypical temporal language sites) were compared with those with language sites confined to Wernicke's area (WA) in the posterosuperior temporal and inferior parietal perisylvian area. In a consecutive series of 44 left hemisphere language dominant patients with complex partial seizures before left temporal lobectomy, correlations were compared between cortical language distribution and measures of cognitive function. Patients with atypical temporal language sites (group 1) had significantly fewer years of education that did patients with language sites in WA (group 2). Patients in group 1 had poorer verbal learning and fluency than did patients in group 2. Patients with IQ <80 were significantly more likely to have multiple sites where stimulation disrupted language than did patients with normal IQ. Number of language sites had significant negative correlations with full-scale IQ, and measures of confrontation naming, verbal fluency, and immediate verbal memory. Language cortex has a wider spatial distribution in epilepsy surgery patients with lower intelligence, poorer education, and worse verbal and memory skills.